Door controlling and locking means.



H. G. VOIGHT.

DOOR CONTROLLING AND LOCKING MEANS.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 5, 1912.

1 ,O40,970, Patented Oct. 8, 1912.

INVENTOR WITNESSES ATTORNEYS COLUMBIA PLANOOIIAI'N C(L-WASHINO'ION. u.c.

HENRY G. VOIGHT, OF NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT.

DOOR CONTROLLING AND LOCKING MEANS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 8, 1912.

Application filed .Tune 5, 1912. Serial No. 701,726.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY G. Vororrr, a citizen of the United States,residing at New Britain, Hartford county, State of Connecticut, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Door Controlling andLooking Means, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention relates to controlling and locking means for slidingdoors and is more particularly directed to improved means whereby thedoor may be securely and firmly held in closed position and whereby itmay be expeditiously opened with a minimum expenditure of energy.

In my pending application, Serial No. 690,882, I have shown anddescribed a door controlling mechanism in which a power cylinder ismounted upon the door casing, toggle lever connections extending betweensaid cylinder and the forward edge of the door and being operablethrough said power cylinder to close the door, and means being carriedby the door to cooperate with said toggle to lock it against dooropening movement and to unlock it and open the door. The toggle leverconnections in said application are of the bent toggle type and are nothorizontal or in longitudinal alinement when the toggle is straightenedout or distended as contrasted with broken or flexed. This form oftoggle, while facilitating the expeditious opening of the door with aminimum expenditure of energy, permits some lost motion after the doorhas been closed and, therefore, does not hold the door absolutely rigidin closed position.

The object of this present invention is to provide a structure whichwill securely and firmly hold the door in closed position and will inaddition permit the opening of the door against the force of the powercylinder with the expenditure of a minimum of effort on the part of theoperator. To this end I employ the bent toggle and power cylinder of mypending application above referred to, and in conjunction therewithemploy a straight locking toggle, one end of which is pivoted to thedoor casing or other stationary abutment and the other end of which ispivotally mounted on the door. This straight toggle constructioninvolves so modifying the lever components of a bent toggle constructionthat the toggle is straightened out by the closing of the door,

the lever members being horizontal and in longitudinal alinement andthereby on a dead center whereby they are themselves automaticallylocked against door opening movement when so positioned. In connectionwith this I employ independently operable means for breaking the deadcenter lock of this toggle and for moving the door to open position,which means may cooperate with the straight toggle and form an auxiliarylocking means. I therefore secure by these arrangements the doubleadvantage of a firm and secure lock and an expeditiously and easilyoperable opening.

To this end, the invention consists in the following combinations ofstructure, a preferable embodiment ofwhich is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a view in elevation of the invention as applied to a slidingdoor. Fig. 2 is a top plan view, partly in section, of the parts shownin Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation, on an enlarged scale, ofthe forward end of the toggle levers connected to the forward edge ofthe door and provided with toggle breaking and auxiliary latching means.Fig. 4 is an end view, partly in section, of the parts shown in Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings by numerals: lindicates a door of the slidingtype, and 2 a door casing. 3 is a bracket mounted upon the door casing,and 4: a power closer cylinder pivotally mounted at its lower end onsaid bracket. Levers 5 and 6, preferably formed as spaced bars, asshown, are pivotally connected to each other at their adjacent ends,lever member 6 at its rear end being pivotally mounted at 3 on thebracket member 3 and having a tranverse arm 7 extending therefromadjacent said end and pivotally connected to the piston rod 4: of thecloser cylinder. The forward. end of the lever member is journaled on apivot stud 8 carried by a hub plate 9 and secured to the forward edge ofthe door. These two lever members 5 and 6 are so constructed thattogether they form a toggle of the bent type, that is, when moveddownwardly by the power of the closer cylinder 4, they are partiallystraightened to move the door to closed position, but are so constructedthat they cannot be fully straightened out in longitudinal alinementwhen the door is closed. The levers 10 and 11, preferably formed asstraight toggle in that they are so constructed that when the door ismoved to closed position, the lever members 10 and 11 will be fullystraightened out and extend horizontally and in longitudinal alinement.

They will, therefore, be on a dead center and when so positioned, willbe thereby locked against door opening movement.

The bent toggle formed by the levers 5 and 6 is not so locked againstdoor opening movement, and owing to the fact that it is bent or broken,may be readily moved with the opening of the door against the force ofthe power cylinder 4 which normally tends to distend or straighten themout to close the door.

From the construction of the parts so far described, it will be seenthat the force of power cylinder 4, through its piston rod 4*, arm 7 andtoggle levers 5 and 6, will normally move the door to closed position.As this is done, the lever members 10 and 11 are, with the lever members5 and 6, moved downwardly from the position shown in dotted lines, Fig.1, to that shown in full lines, these levers 1011 being straightened outand automatically locking themselves against door opening movement,while the lever members 56 form a bent toggle which, aside from theresistance of the power cylinder, ofiers practically no resistance tothe opening movement of the door. Before the door can be opened,however, the dead center lock formed by the straight toggle levers 1011must be broken. In order to permit this, I have provided the followingmechanism:

Mounted upon the forward edge of the door above the hub plate 9 is adoor plate 12 formed with a hub or boss 13 having a central aperture 14extending therethrough and through the plate, this aperture at the outerend of the hub being enlarged to form an annular shoulder 15, and therear face of the plate being recessed to provide a second annularshoulder 16 forming a continuation through a suitable bore formed in thedoor. An internally threaded bearing washer 19,

seated within the recess formed by the an-' nular shoulder 16, bearsagainst said shoulder and against the outer face of the door. The pivotstud 18 carried by the operating lever 17 is pro-vided with a collar 20fitting within the annular shoulder 15 and having a reduced extension orshoulder 21 fitting through the aperture 14 of the hub. From the annularshoulder 21, the stud is reduced in diameter and extends through a boreformed in the door, being provided with a threaded portion 22 formed andpositioned to engage the threaded bearing Washer 19. At its extremitythe pivot stud 18 is provided with a squared end 23, thedoor 1 be ingrecessed on its opposite face to receive a socket plate 24 which servesto inclose the squared end of the pivot stud. The purpose of thissquared end of the pivot stud is to enable the operating lever 17 to beactuated from the opposite side of the door as will be more clearly seenhereafter.

Journaled on the collar 20 of the pivot stud and bearing against theouter face of the hub 18 and the rear face of the lever member 17, is alink 25 pivotally connected at 26 to a second double link 27, in turnhaving its free ends pivotally connected at 28 to the lever irember 10adjacent its forward end. Extending from the under face of the levermember 17 adjacent its upper pivoted end is an arm or stud 29 lying inthe plane of the link member 25. The lever member 10 of the straight.toggle extends forwardly from the point where it is ournaled on thepivot stud 8 and has the spaced bars of which it is composed. unitedtogether at 30. A guide bracket 31 is spaced from the outer face of thelever member 10 at its forward end and is united thereto at 30 and at 32and incloses between it and the outer face of said lever member, thelower end of the operating lever 17. Extending from the hub plate 9adjacent its rear edge is an abutment stud 38 which is positioned to liein the path of movement of the lower end of the operating lever 17 andacts as an abutirent through which force may be applied to open thedoor.

The levers forming the bent and straight toggles are spaced laterally ofeach other and have sufficient clearance so 3 closer cylinder 4 normallytends to pull its piston rod 4 downwardly to thereby,

through the transverse arm 7 and lever members 5 and 6, move the door toclosed positlon, both toggles, when the door is in open position, beingpositioned as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. As the door is movedto closed position through the power cylinder and bent toggle 5 and 6,the straight toggle formed by the levers 10 and 11 is straightened out,as has been before described, to lie in longitudinal alinement andafford a dead center lock against door opening movement on the part ofthese levers. As these levers swing to straight position, the links25-27 are likewise straightened out and form an auxiliary straighttoggle lock against door opening movement on the part of the toggle1011. WVith the door thus in closed position, to open the door theoperating lever 17, through its handle, is moved to bring its arm orstud 29 against the lower edge of link 25, thus breaking the toggle andmoving link 27 and lever member 10 upwardly to break the lock for'i' edby the straight toggle of the levers 10 and 11. By the time this lockhas been broken, the lower end of the operating lever 17 will havereached and abutted against the abutment stud A further pull by theoperator will now move the door to open position, the bent toggle formedby the levers 5 and 6 moving upwardly, and through the great leveragesecured by the position of its arm 7 permitting the opening of the dooragainst the force of the power cylinder with a minimum expenditure ofenergy on the part of the operator. Upon the operator releasing thehandle 17, the power cylinder l will move the door, through the benttoggle 5-45, to closed position, as before described, the handleswinging downwardly by gravity to the position indicated in full linesin Fi 3, and the parts assuming the locking positions heretoforedescribed. It will thus be seen that by reason of the employment of astraight toggle, I securely and firmly lock the door in closed position,and, by the use of the bent toggle, enable the opening of the dooragainst the force of the power cylinder after the straight toggle lockhas been broken, with a minimum expenditure of energy.

I have described and illustrated a preferable embodin'ent of theinvention, but it is, of course, understood that the same may bestructurally modified within the scope of the apended claims.

What I claim, therefore, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination of a slidingdoor, a stationary abutment, a bent toggle lever connection between saiddoor and abutment, closing mechanism for said door operatively connectedwith said bent toggle to move the latter in a direction to move saiddoor into closed position, a straight toggle lever connection betweensaid door and a stationary abutment adapted to be straightened by theclosing of the door to thereby lock the door against opening movement,and means carried by the door and independently movable relative theretoadapted to be moved to break said straight toggle lock and to open saiddoor.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination of a slidingdoor, a stationary abutment, a bent toggle lever connection between saiddoor and abutment, closing mechanism for said door operatively connectedwith said bent toggle to move the latter in a direction to move saiddoor into closed position, a straight toggle lever connection betweensaid door and a stationary abutment adapted to be straightened by theclosing of the door to thereby lock the door against opening movement,an operating lever carried by the door and independently movablerelative thereto, and means operable by said'independent movement ofsaid lever to break said straight toggle lock prepa '2 tory to openingthe door.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination of a slidingdoor, a stationary abutment, a bent toggle lever connection between saiddoor and abutment, closing mechanism for said door operatively connectedwith said bent toggle to move the latter in a direction to move saiddoor into closed position, a straight toggle lever connection betweensaid door and a stationary abutment adapted to be straightened by theclosing of the door to thereby lock the door against opening movement,an operating lever carried by the door and independently movablerelative thereto, means operable by said independent movement of saidlever to break said straight toggle lock preparatory to opening thedoor, and an abutment positioned on the door to be engaged by saidoperating lever at the end of such independent movement thereof wherebysaid lever may be further actuated to open said door.

t. In a device of the character described, the combination of a slidingdoor, a stationary abutment, a bent toggle lever connection between saiddoor and abutment, closing mechanism for said door operatively connectedwith said bent toggle to move the latter in a direction to move saiddoor into closed position, a straight toggle lever connection betweensaid door and a stationary abutment adapted to be straightened by theclosing of the door to thereby lock the door against opening movement,toggle unlocking mechanism carried by said door and in operativeconnection with said straight toggle, an operating lever carried by saiddoor operatively connected with said unlocking mechanism and having alimited independent movement relative to said door whereby such movementof said lever operates to break said straight toggle lock preparatory toopening said door, and an abutment positioned on said door to be engagedby said operating lever at the end of such independent movement thereof,whereby said lever may be further actuated to open said door.

5. In a deviceot the character described, the combination of a slidingdoor, a stationary abutment, a bent toggle lever connection between saiddoor and abutment, closing mechanism for said door operatively connectedwith said bent toggle to move the latter in a direction to move saiddoor into closed position, a straight toggle lever connection betweensaid door and a stationary abutment adapted to be straightened by theclosing of the door to thereby lock the door against opening movement,means carried by said door and operatively connected with said straighttoggle adapted to be positioned thereby upon the closing movement of thedoor to form an auxiliary lock therefor against door opening movement,and an operating lever carried by the door having a limited independentmovement relative thereto and adapted to be moved relative to said doorto inoperatively position said aux iliary locking means and to breaksaid straight toggle lock preparatory to opening the door.

6. In a device ofthe character described, the combination of a slidingdoor, a stationary abutment, a bent toggle lever connection between saiddoor and abutment, closing mechanism for said door operatively con-Copies of this patent may be obtained for five oents each, by addressingthe Gommissi Washington, D. 0.

'nected with said bent toggle to move the latter in a direction to movesaid door into closed position, a straight toggle lever conlockingtoggle connected to said door and to 40 said straight toggle andpositioned thereby upon the closing movement of the door to act as anauxiliary lock therefor against- -door opening movement and adapted tobe moved independently of said straight toggle to be placed ininoperative locking position relative thereto and to break the lock ofsaid straight toggle, an operating lever carried by the door and havinga limited independent movement relative thereto, means carried by saidlever adapted, upon such independ ent movement thereof, to move saldauxiliary toggle into inoperative locking position to thereby break thelock of said straight toggle, and an abutment positioned on said door tobe engaged by said operating lever at the end of such independentmovement thereof, whereby said lever may be further actuated to opensaid door.

HENRY G. VOIGHT.

\Vitnesses GwnNDoLINE A. JACKSON, M. S. WIARD.

oner of Patents,

